Even as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague ordered to put on hold the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage, India on Friday said it still has no information about his appeal status.
When pointed out that Jadhav's appeal period ends on Friday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said at a media briefing here: "We have no information but certainly the mother of Jadhav had sent a petition with the appeal through the High Commission of India and it was handed over to the Pakistani authorities."
He said that Pakistan has also not responded to the request by the family members of Jadhav for visas so that they could go and meet him.
Meanwhile, former attorney general Soli Sorabjee on Friday asserted that the verdict is just a small beginning and the matter should not be over-blown as the victory is yet to be achieved.
"It is just a beginning of the good steps. But it is not the victory. This is the preliminary step. Of course it is something we should be happy about, but we should not over-blow it," said Sorabjee.
He said the ICJ verdict on Jadhav proves that somewhere the ICJ believes there is substance in India's allegations.
Commenting on the speculation being raised that whether Pakistan will accept the verdict passed by the ICJ or not, Sorabjee said Islamabad has no other option other than to accept the order.
"Pakistan has to accept the order of the ICJ. Otherwise, it will be political suicide and Pakistan cannot afford to do that and I don't think it will do it," he said.
Earlier on Thursday, the ICJ stayed the execution and upheld India's right to have consular access to the former naval officer who has been declared spy by the Pakistan and been awarded death sentence for espionage.
Justice Ronny Abraham of the ICJ asserted that the case was indeed debatable, while also adding the ICJ had prime facie jurisdiction in the case.
The final verdict in the case is expected in August.
The only condition under which Jadhav now stands to face execution is if Islamabad does not comply with the ICJ's decision. India can then go to the Security Council, which may then decide upon measures to be taken to give effect to the judgement.
